Introspection
by Io's Chest
Summary: They say that when you look back on previous events, you notice things that you have never noticed before. Sometimes, you just have to admit your mistakes. But what happens when there is no one to listen to you? Told from Sarutobi's POV.
1. The Beginning or The End?

Introspection

Disclaimer: I don not own Naruto. All further chapters will refer to this single disclaimer.

AN: UNBETA'd.

Chapter 1

"Konoha...no, all of Fire Country was in shambles. Not a single person was alive for 300 miles anywhere. He was sure that if he was to visit another country, the results would be exactly the same; devastation all around. Especially Iwa; they were probably hit the very hardest in the war. This was probably the worst thing to happen to the Elemental countries in...ever. Not even the devastation caused by the Tailed Beasts could even hold a candle to the carnage and destruction I had seen. This was ironic because the attack by the Kyuubi no Kitsune was only...I can't even remember how many years prior. To think that the world had already degraded this far, over something like meaningless power.

"Wait: what was I thinking? Of course there would be a massive power struggle. History dictates it. And we were always doomed to repeat it. Again, ironic. We could see what had happened before, but over and over and over, we refused to take the hint. War after war after ninja war. This was lunacy. And yet...nothing could be done. Everything was tried; nothing worked. Peace agreements were not honored; it was in a ninja's history and culture to backstab and pride was of no issue. Honor among thieves? Bah. Lies. Show me an honorable ninja...besides – never mind...that's all in the past now.

"I stood on top of what was left of the Hokage Mountain, on top of the bust of my head that was carved some years prior to this mess. I am ashamed to say this, but my skills had not diminished with my age.

"Why am I ashamed? THAT...is a long story. I suppose I should start from the beginning.

"It started with my birth...no no no, that is all wrong. It started with Minato's birth. As soon as I saw the famed Namikaze heir, I knew he was destined for great things. He and I took a shining to each other, and I may have ingrained the desire to be a hokage into him...

"As I watched him grow and train and shoot up in the ranks, I could not help feeling extremely proud. The Namikaze was an obscure but very prestigious clan, but it had dwindled due to mishaps in childbirth. It was a shame. Minato's father had died in combat and I had told him of this. Minato took it in stride. Quite admirable, coming from an eight-year-old orphan. Then again, I knew he was destined for great things. Wait, didn't I say that already? Must be my old age getting to me.

"His mother had died in childbirth; forever a data point on the graph of the folly of Namikaze. Shame, that. But Minato had taken THAT in stride as well. He was like a runaway train; perhaps his desire to learn and improve overrode his wanting to mourn and grieve his parents, whom he had never gotten the chance to know. That was a shame too. Although it pains me to say this, I couldn't complain either. He was improving at a rate unheard of in history. He was making great advances in jutsu creation and was absorbing sealing from my former student like a sponge.

"He was also quite amusing to observe in the community; there must be some sort of sick pheromone that the last of one's clan gives off that attracts every single clingy girl in the entire village. Not that Minato wasn't a looker. Hell, if I was forty-something years younger and of the opposite gender...well, let's not get into that. Anyway, he was quite the looker. I'm just saying is all.

"So when he made chuunin, I felt it was time to begin my tentative "search" for a successor. Not that it was much of a search. I already knew who I wanted for my successor, and he wanted to take my hat and robes since he could talk and walk and light things on fire with chakra. But I knew I couldn't show favoritism like that. So I decided to make a show of it and choose one of my students who I knew also coveted the robes as well: Orochimaru. Perhaps not the greatest decision I had ever made as Hokage. And it would come back to bite me in the ass...multiple times.

"So I began Minato's grooming for the "throne" in secret, thrice a week. I would talk with him over village safety, draw up hypothetical situations both peacetime and wartime, and have him give his thoughts on the current status of the village. We discussed how the village were to respond if the village was invaded or if a natural disaster were to befall the village. His answers were always insightful and out-of-the-box. He always weighed every single life in his hands individually, and tried to find the cleanest answer to each problem. I told him that what he was trying to do was only wishful thinking, but he would always respond with the same thing: he would change the entire world as Hokage. Admirable. I do so wish that there were more pupils and overall people like him. The world would be a much better place than I has become...now.

"Each night after we finished, I would hand Minato a history book, and tell him to read it before our next meeting. This was all well and good; he had to know village history, precedents, and any loopholes that he could use to twist that godforsaken council to meet his needs. He told me he was going to abolish it and form a new, more trustworthy one, when he took my place. I only laughed and ruffled his hair. I gratified him with a "Good luck; you're going to need it". When I stepped down and watched his brief but very productive reign, I saw that he had not been able to abolish the council, but had managed to keep a chokehold on it to the point where its involvement became a null point. A rather effective substitute, I would say.

"One night, as I watched him hop up to my office with history book in hand, I got a strange feeling in my gut. I knew something was going to be asked that would eventually be of utmost importance. As we began our studies, I kept it locked away in the back of my mind until:

"'Hokage-sama, in the history text you had me read the last two nights...it mentioned something about the bijuu.'

"Oh, God. Kami, kill me now.

"'What if...what if a bijuu invades Konoha?'

"And there it was. I had no answer. Simply because there was no precedent. I informed him that such a thing had not happened...ever, and that the closest thing to it happening was when the Shodaime Hokage had borrowed their power to shape this village. There had never actually been an attack before.

"'And...if there was? Shouldn't we have some sort of emergency protocol for this type of situation, no matter how unlikely?'

"As much as I wanted to deny it, I knew he was right. In the event that it was to happen, the shit would hit the fan and the village would be screwed sideways to hell.

"As we talked about this, I couldn't help but notice a glint in his eyes: it was something no experienced ninja ever wanted to see in a rookie: resignation...and single-minded determination. Minato was by no means green, but he was still young. Talking about potential ends for the village like it was just another topic of discussion over dinner scared me, but I was the Hokage. I had to set a good example.

"Thus began our plans for an anti-bijuu contingency protocol: Konoha Order Zero.

"We took every bijuu into account. Technically we had nine Order Zeroes: Zero-point-One up to Zero-point-Nine. We figured that if we just issued Order Zero that the ninja responding could just count the tails to know what protocol to begin.

"Every protocol began with the non-violent solution: the ninja would set up a perimeter (a very large perimeter, mind you) and the Hokage would go up and try to reason with it. It sounded quite stupid on paper, but we had no experience dealing with a bijuu, so we left it in there...just in case. This was Order Zero, Protocol A.

"Protocol B was also the same in all nine variations. We were to use nonlethal force to try to turn the bijuu away from the village. This sounded stupid as well, but again, there were no precedents for this kind of thing, and Minato was always the lover of life. That's what made him so great. I argued that it was a bijuu...as in a legendary Tailed Beast. It would take nothing LESS than lethal force to turn a bijuu in the opposite direction. But I supposed that is why there are multiple protocols. After Minato became a jounin and stirred up trouble in the Third Great Shinobi War, whenever we looked at this portion of the protocol to edit, we would always joke that if we redirected the bijuu toward Iwa they would be much happier than if they saw Minato again. That always made my day.

"Protocol C was slightly trickier. This is where we would try to contain and set free (as in CAPTURE and RELEASE) said bijuu. When Minato first mentioned it, I snorted. Good luck, I said, you'll need it. Hmm, I recall saying that sometime earlier. I'm getting too old for this.

"Protocol D was...Protocol D was something we never wanted to come up with in the first place. This was where Minato dragged Jiraiya to our meetings. Protocol D dictated a sealing. As in a containing of said bijuu for an indeterminate amount of time. Even Jiraiya thought this was nothing short of ridiculous. But Minato did not waver. This is where his seal training came into play; he was more qualified than Jiraiya to seal a bijuu when he reached jounin, so who was I to stop him? It was Minato who came up with the ridiculously complex seal array to deal with each Beast. But alas, it was not to remain smooth sailing.

"Minato had incredible trouble with the Kyuubi's power. It was simply too massive. No matter how we deliberated and pondered and mashed together arrays, nothing would work. It would either self-deteriorate over time and then burst, destroying the container and releasing the Beast in a spectacular yet humbling explosion, or would collapse in on itself, or would fail immediately and the same outcome would be reached.

"We experimented with gobs of Minato's own chakra in cast iron pots. Very poor containers of sorts, but they were all we had. What else could we have used? Humans? Never. Who were we, Orochimaru? Hmm...don't tell him I said that. I never did agree with his methods of experimentation. Anyway, to simulate the successive strength of each bijuu, he would compress and add more so it would become more potent and powerful. He was truly a genius of genii.

"When Minato finally ascended to power (and I use that term loosely because Minato never wanted to be a cruel ruler) it was spectacular. The village flourished, and nothing unfortunate ever happened. We counted our blessings. Order Zero was never used...

"Soon after his coronation of sorts, Minato went to Whirlpool on a diplomacy mission...and brought back a signed treaty (mission: success)...and a woman (mission: success...?). I had never seen Jiraiya more proud. This greatly amused me. All this time, I thought he was asexual, ignoring the female populace of his own village, but making dirty faces and witty comebacks whenever I made jokes about his orientation. Apparently he had, in his travels with "ero-sensei", acquired a taste in the exotic. And Kushina definitely fit the bill. I'll be the first to admit that I got just a bit jealous, but that's not my place. They looked so good together; the firecrackers of their respective villages, I could just smell the ink on the paperwork to be filled out when they had their first kid.

"They were married in secret, and only the clan heads (minus the Uchiha Clan; he didn't like them and their dirty, cheating, copying bloodlines) and me and my students knew. It was a small, intimate wedding, and only close friends (no family because Minato was an orphan and Whirlpool was all but decimated by invaders in the years between the treaty and the marriage...a great shame) attended. It was a modest affair, but a very fitting one. Although I must say...it was very out of character. I expected them to throw a massive bash to complement their personalities, but Minato (and Kushina, after I got to know her better...a joy, she was) never failed to surprise.

"Our joys were short-lived. Not even a year after the marriage (Minato walked back into Konoha with Kushina, pregnant...Jiraiya began to cry. Still don't know what's up with him), the Kyuubi popped up – seriously, just popped up – and started destroying things.

"Minato stared at the carnage, which was still a ways away, with a weary eye. I looked at him curiously; he had made me his chief advisor, and I was honored. He had told me it was for situations that needed experience above all else, but I figured he was hiding something. Here it was. He ­_was_ hiding something. But apparently, I wasn't going to know what it was until after he...until after everything had ended.

"I asked him what he was going to do. He responded with only one sentence: 'Prepare Order Zero.'

"One thing led to another. A messenger burst in and informed us that Kushina was going into labor. Minato's eyes widened, then shut, then reopened. Slowly. His eyes were vastly different from before he had shut them. I had to ask: 'What are you thinking right now?'

"I watched him a moment: he seemed like he was in inner turmoil. And then, he spoke: 'I have to go talk to Kushina.'

"This was bad. _Bad_. BAD. Something was wrong. He was halfway out the door when I grabbed his arm. "What about Order Zero?'

"'This is relevant...more than you might think. I think I have an idea.'

"'You're crazy! In all our years of formulating Order Zero, you've never completed Protocol D for Zero-point-Nine!'

"When he responded, his voice was quiet, yet held unwavering resolve: 'I know. And it won't stay this way for long.' He paused. Now that I think of it, we've never established a Protocol A through C for Nine either.' I gaped. 'My idea is in D territory though...since it's going to be a quick fix if it goes off without a hitch.' I continued gaping.

"With that, he rushed out the door and Hiraishin-ed to the hospital. I went out to gather all ninja..._all_ ninja. A shame, for sure. I could just envision all the potential statistics gathered in front of me as I began to make my statement on behalf of the Hokage. Good thing I still commanded respect. As it should be.

"I had to rub my eyes for a moment; my eyes seemed to be playing tricks on me. The ninjas appeared to be congregating in lines that seemed to form the area under a bell curve. I didn't even want to think about what the axes could represent. I chose not to dwell on it.

"'Ninja of Konohagakure: a time of reckoning is upon us. As you might have observed, the Kyuubi no Kitsune is in Fire Country, sweeping a path of destruction. And as luck might have it, it is headed straight for us.' At this there were some nervous chuckles. 'I have talked with the Hokage, and he has issued Order Zero. As for _which_ Order Zero...I will trust that each and every one of you can count.' More strained chuckles. 'I trust all of you know what this entails. I also trust that you know that we do not currently have an official Protocol for Nine either.' At this, there were a few gasps. 'However, the Hokage has come up with a quick fix. However, this is D-level territory. Ironically, the classification system for Order Zero is the opposite of any other status level in this village. Therefore, D-level is the highest conceivable level of action we can ever hope to take.

"'You may ask: "Why don't we kill it?" Ponder that question and its stupidity for a moment. It is a _bijuu_. It is a being of chakra. Have you not retained _any_ of the history from the academy? So we can only assume that the Hokage's quick fix is a sealing, being of D-level importance. So now...while I go help him get ready, you ALL must go and stall the Kyuubi for all you are worth. And please...do NOT become statistics in our village. And do not worry about invasion back here on the home-front while all of you are stalling. An invasion requires a target, after all. If Zero fails, then no one will be alive to invade anyway. We'll take our chances. On that charming note: DISPERSE!'

"That was not the greatest motivating speech I have ever made, but I felt it would do the job. Putting the fear of Kami in them would be the same as rousing them to cheer, if a potential outcome was massive indiscriminate death of both ninja and civilian.

"I made my way to the library, where I knew Minato was making his final preparations. I walked through the door, and as I saw the state Minato was in, I gasped. Over and over, he was chanting, 'he'll have no parents...I'll have failed...what if he's not viewed as a hero?...what if they try to kill him...' I rushed to his side, where he was in the equivalent of a micro-seizure, while his brain had all but snapped.

"I asked what happened, afraid of what his answer would be.

"'Kushina agreed. It took a very long time, but she agreed. At least the discussion took some of her mind off the child-birth.'

"'What did she agree to?'

"'Our child...our child...poor, poor Naruto...I can't use someone else...I can't use ANYONE else...I can't ask that of them...what do I do...what do I do...whatdoIdowhatdoIdoWHATDOIDO???'

"I had never seen him in this state before. It was...frightening. 'I don't understand. What are you using Naruto for?' I had gathered that they had named their child (a boy, from the name) Naruto, either from Jiraiya's first book, or from the popular Ramen topping...I was willing to go with the former.

"'My plan...my plan...my plan needs a sacrifice. A _human_ sacrifice.'

"I gaped. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. 'You can NOT be serious. How the hell did you get Kushina to agree?'

"'Well...she's dead. Died in child-birth. Apparently the folly of the Namikaze clan is transferred through marriage as well...funny, isn't it...' And with that, he let loose a gut-wrenching laugh. It was horrifying. 'At least I can use Naruto for the sealing now...with NO obstacles...' He took a long, sideways glance at me, then burst into tears.

"It was inevitable, but he snapped. It was finally done. I tried to comfort him, but I failed. I did manage to get his tears under control, however.

"It was now that I asked him what array he had for the sealing. It was also now that I noticed what was on the table before him. I gaped. Again. 'You're serious? You know what you're doing?'

"His response was of Kage-like quality, all former sadness and madness gone: just resolve. 'I know what I'm doing. And there is no way you can talk me out of it. Ever since I watched my wife die while holding our child, I have been in here looking for a possible loophole. It just does not exist. This is the _only_ way. You can't take my place, either. It needs blood from both caster and container, and they must be related. If I was to pick another child, I would have had to ask either the mother or father to give up their life, and I could not do this. I am the Hokage, and I am doing what is best for my village. You cannot stop me. I have already drawn the necessary half of the array on my son's stomach. The other half of the array will appear when the sealing is done.'

"'I...understand. I will not step in. But...do you know how the village will take this?'

"'Sadly, I do.' I gaped. Yet again. 'There has been something I have been keeping from you. You know that we Namikazes have a pitiful record in surviving parents, in our clan, right? Well, with that pathetic statistic, we were also gifted by Kami with a confounding bloodline: a doujutsu, of sorts.'

"I only continued to gape.

"His speech became more tired, more weary. 'The possessor of this bloodline will be able to see one, and ONLY one event of epic proportions of which he or she will be a part. The viewing of this event may be years in advance, or even the hour before. It may activate at anytime, or it may never activate at all. Kami has a sick sense of humor.' He laughed, but it was a dry and humorless one. 'You may be able to guess what I saw in my vision.'

"'...you saw the Kyuubi attack...THIS Kyuubi attack.'

"'The very one.'

"'That explains so much, like why we spent so much on Order Zero. But for the long-term, you made sure we had protocols for all nine Beasts, just in case there was an attack after the Kyuubi. And you wanted to be Hokage so you could be sure Order Zero was implemented.'

"'That is correct.' He sighed, and slumped in his chair. 'This is all I can do. The Namikaze bloodline – to be forever unnamed, due to its curse – will only tell me what happened if I did not participate in the event, and even then, I will see it only once. It is the wielder's choice whether or not to act on that vision. I had not envisioned my son as the container for the Kyuubi, I can certainly tell you that.'

"I started to say something, but he continued.

"'What I did see was my own death. My bloodline showed me the complete and utter destruction of Konoha. Nobody left alive. Including you, me, Kushina, our child...nobody. I figured...one life for thousands? Done. It is what a Hokage would do.'

"I gaped. This was quickly getting old. The gaping, that is. Not the ridiculousness spewing out of his mouth that I could not bring myself to distrust.

"'Anyway...just as you walked in, my preparations were completed. I do have some loose ends to tie up, however. Here, take this: it is a letter Kushina and I wrote to Naruto on her deathbed, moments before she gave birth to him. Please see to it that he receives it relatively early. Preferably before jounin, but after you deem him able to protect himself. And also...tell him I love him, and Kushina loved him, and we will always love him, even in death. Unfortunately, I will not be seeing him on the other side due to the stipulations in the sealing, but when he dies – hopefully living a very long and productive life – he will be able to see his mother. One more thing...see to it Naruto is treated as a hero? Use whatever means necessary to...persuade the village, if they hate him on sight.

"'Oh...before I forget...tell him about the Kyuubi as soon as he can fend for himself. Note my wording...you will probably tell him about the Kyuubi before you tell him about me and Kushina. And DO NOT play dumb. That will make the time when you actually inform him of his parents a very trying time where all of his trust in you is lost. If he asks about his parents, tell him you'll tell him when he is older. If he is anything like me and Kushina, only a small push is motivation enough.' He paused, lost in thought. 'Hmm...Am I forgetting anything...?'

"I gave up gaping. It hurt to stay in that position, anyway. 'Consider it done. Consider everything done. I assume you will be leaving all your assets and estate to him as well?'

"He snapped his fingers. 'THAT is what I forgot. Thanks, Old man.'

"A vein in my forehead twitched, but I let it go, knowing that whatever I said now was not going to matter in a few moments.

"'Anything else?'

"'Actually, I just remembered something quite useful. Here is another scroll...for your eyes only. This will contain any instructions pertaining to any future inquiries Naruto has about his bloodline, blah blah blah, et cetera. If anything else comes up, you know how to contact me from the stomach...' That last bit he said ominously. I did know how to contact him from the Shinigami's stomach, but it was going to be a trying effort for my old bones.

"'I will be off then, old man. Farewell, and tell everyone – you know the list – I'll miss them. I leave future Hokage business to you.'

"With unshed tears in my eyes, I watched him race out the library door, Hiraishin into his office, then fly out the office window. 'Goodbye, Minato.'"

The Yondaime Hokage appeared at the front of Konoha's dwindling forces. Immediately a cheer was heard. "We're saved! Yondaime-sama is here!" He chuckled. _Not for long_, he thought. _Well, it was fun. Sayonara, old man, Naruto, everyone. I'm off. Goodbye...Kushina_.

Kuchiyose: Gamabunta!

_Gamabunta...one last time...I'm sorry I couldn't have a drink with you one last time..._

Fuuin: Shiki Fuuin!

End Chapter 1

AN: Read and Review. This marks the first chapter of my first story, and I figured why not go with a "brand new"-ish idea. I've picked up a bit of experience from reading – if my Favorites list has anything to say on the matter – and so I used what I read to spin my own story. Let's see how it turns out.

**Title under construction.**


	2. AN

AN: I seem to have misplaced my draft of my story so far, and thus am choosing to finish it right here. It actually works well on its own, providing a bit of info (factual or not) from Sarutobi's perspective. Just ignore all the quotations at the beginning of each paragraph. I had at first wanted to simulate Sarutobi's actual account and narration of the events…so he was saying everything…except for the end, of course.

Since I was unable to locate the copy of my first chapter, I obviously cannot change the hinting at continuation. So yeah, my bad.

Also, seeing as I have not received many hits at all since I posted this…in February (LOL), I figure why not start anew. On the bright side, I am closer to becoming a beta reader. Yay me. So yeah. Until next time.

~AISB


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